Writing on Facebook, spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko said that Mr Poroshenko supported the suspension. He also asked law enforcement to undergo an urgent review of the information contained in the investigation.

Those concessions are unlikely to make Mr Poroshenko’s problem disappear.

On Tuesday, another presidential rival, the Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi, piled on the pressure by concurring Mr Poroshenko had committed an offence “impeachable in any other country.” But his solution was not the “PR” favoured by Ms Tymoshenko.